Upscale travellers arriving in Vancouver for their next vacation will enjoy a range of choices previously unheard of here, catering to every luxury.

A 3,781-square-feet Royal Suite (larger than many houses) featuring four bedrooms with an available personal butler or personal chef? The Rosewood Hotel Georgia has it covered.

Forty BMW bicycles to choose from for a personal jaunt around Stanley Park? Go to the Fairmont Pacific Rim, where a “bike butler” will cover all cycling needs.

The Shangri-La offers guests a day-trip via float plane to Whistler, featuring an outdoor adventure (such as a canoe tour) that will have them back in Vancouver for dinner.

The Trump International, when it opens this summer, will give guests a chance to choose from an extensive menus of premium pillows (with optional aromatherapy treatments) and transport in a Rolls-Royce Ghost II (a car that lists at $298,350 US).

Vancouver welcomed a record number of visitors last year, including waves of upscale travellers who filled the city’s luxury hotels in large numbers. Industry figures show Vancouver’s revenue per-average-room index, called RevPAR in the industry, hit $123.75 last year, up 17 per cent from 2014, and $20 higher than Toronto, the next most-profitable hotel market in Canada. (RevPAR is calculated by multiplying a hotel’s average daily room rate by its occupancy rate).

“The hotel market in Vancouver is the strongest in Canada, period,” said Bill Stone, executive vice-president of CBRE Hotels, which acts as both market analyst and brokerage. “In terms of overall size and depth and the number of rooms, sure, Toronto is still larger. But Vancouver is the highest-demand and performance market by a wide margin.”

That market is expected to grow by another seven per cent this year, Stone added, driven by a clientele drawn to Canada by a low dollar, as well as Vancouver’s burgeoning reputation as a playground for travellers looking for an upscale experience.

The rates for top-end rooms is steep. For a weekend stay from Friday, June 3 to Sunday, June 5, rooms at the Fairmont Pacific Rim, Rosewood Hotel Georgia, Shangri-La and Four Seasons all start above $500 per night. That pricetag skyrockets to $3,101 a night for a Corner Gold Suite at the Pacific Rim, or a staggering $6,000 for Hotel Georgia’s Lord Stanley Suite.

Despite the price, demand remains insatiable. Kostas Christopoulos, director of marketing at the Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver, could not show off its rooms because the hotel was fully booked on the day of an interview. He said bookings at the hotel are up 10 per cent in the first quarter of this year compared to the same time last year, and overall annual growth is projected at five per cent.

“The travel industry, especially in North America, is very, very strong,” Christopoulos said. He said California, China and Mexico (due to a lifting of visa requirements) are major sources of tourists for B.C.’s upscale travel sector, adding that while some other destinations in the region haven’t been as strong, the Vancouver area (including Whistler) is having “an amazing first quarter.”

Besides Canada’s weak currency, a key factor is Vancouver’s increasing visibility in the world, thanks to events like the 2010 Olympics and last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup, said Philip Barnes, general manager of the Fairmont Pacific Rim and Fairmont’s regional vice-president.

“Anything that shows the destination in the way that these events do, it will generate interest,” Barnes said. “It’s not just the attendees you bring in at the time of the event, but the ongoing knock-on effect on our profile that we get.

“If you look at Dubai, it went from no international destination profile in 2000 to where it is now. How has it done that? It’s done that through bringing a lot of events to that destination that have attracted media attention. I think it’s the same in Vancouver.”

Kari Koskela, general manager of the Shangri-La Hotel Vancouver, said Vancouver’s reputation as a resort city — one where the tourists numbers are clearly seasonal, with distinct on- and off-seasons — no longer exists. Year-round business stems from a full slate of conventions and the revival of the Alaska cruise business sailing out of Vancouver.

But he also noted a surprising source of luxury hotel guests — locals.

“It did surprise me, initially. The travel trends we see today are that people travel shorter distances, but more frequently,” Koskela said, noting Canadian guests account for as much as 35 per cent of the hotel’s business, while the Chi spa is regularly booked to capacity by local demand.

“Clients almost don’t view it as a luxury anymore, but as part of their lifestyle. It may be a family from West Vancouver spending a weekend here, and next month they’ll go to L.A. for the weekend.”

Trump International Hotel Vancouver general manager Philipp Posch, who has worked in Chicago and Singapore, said his relatives clamoured to visit B.C. after he moved here — a good sign for the Vancouver brand.

“I’ve never had the slew of people that would come to Chicago or Singapore,” Posch said, adding that, despite the brand being in the spotlight because of Donald Trump’s presidential bid, he has heard nothing but support from the community. “People are excited it’s the first luxury hotel to have opened in Vancouver in the last five years, and it brings new meeting rooms, restaurants and rooms to the market. … People worldwide know Vancouver, and it’s markets like these that the Trump brand would like to go after.”

Along with the rise in business, of course, is increased competition, which means increasing pressure to keep up with the newest trends and features. The constant renewal is especially challenging for a historic landmark hotel like the Rosewood Hotel Georgia, said managing director Philip Meyer.

“When you are developing a historic property like this, it’s not like a new build,” Meyer said. “A new build has the luxury of putting in the latest cabling and Wi-Fi systems. We are retrofitting, so you really have to stay on top of your ability to retrofit and compete with those people who are building the latest hotels.”

That is why Hotel Georgia completely revamped its Reflections lounge, adding two trees, a dedicated bar space, and new decor, layout and menu. The Royal Suite, launched last September, also features a wardrobe consultant to “coordinate looks from the guests’ existing wardrobe, as well as provide shopping services.

“It’s about those extras that we can put in — when people are spending that type of money — so they can get the experiences they are looking for,” Meyer said. “It’s a competitive market, and the cream will rise to the top. That’s what we’re finding.”

Fairmont’s Barnes said the Pacific Rim’s owners, developers Westbank and the Peterson Group, have already invested $18 million in upgrades in the six years since the hotel opened. Twenty rooms are being converted into 10 high-end suites at a cost of almost $2 million. Fairmont’s Waterfront Hotel just completed a total renovation last year, and the Hotel Vancouver’s upgrade will be finished in 2017.

“What we’ve found is the higher-priced products are getting booked first, which gives us the confidence to go with the upgrade,” Barnes said. “We have committed to being the best. It’s not an easy commitment to make, but you have to stick to it.”

Shangri-La’s Koskela said they are opting for a more personal touch. In addition to upgrades throughout the hotel, Koskela said Shangri-La staff meet every morning to go over the needs of each arriving guest, including keeping track of visitors’ preference if they’ve stayed at other Shangri-La hotels.

The process is only possible, he said, because Shangri-La has a relatively small number of rooms, 119.

Trump International, meanwhile, will enter with Drai’s, Vancouver’s first poolside lounge that converts into a nightclub in the evening. Famed upscale Hong Kong restaurant MOTT32 will also be featured, along with the aforementioned Rolls-Royce and pillow menu.

“With us, the travel habits of the (Trump) family informs a lot of what we offer,” Posch said. “It’s about anticipating guest needs. … ‘No’ is not an option. As long as it’s legal, whatever the guest wants, we need to make it happen.”

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